Amazon Fire HD 7 Tablet (2014) Review

Article Index

Performance: Graphics & Gaming

While the Fire HD 7 is equipped to handle the web, can it tackle gaming chores? Let's find out.

Graphics testing

iOS and Android Graphics testing

When we turn our attention to gaming performance, things take a turn for the worse, at least when compared to other mobile devices. The Fire HD 7 posted the lowest score in GFXBench's T-Rex (Offscreen) test at just 13.9 frames per second. However, it's worth noting that the offscreen test renders the benchmark at a Full HD 1080p resolution, something which the Fire HD 7 will never be asked to do in the real-world since it sports a 1280x800 display.

We see more of the same in the fill rate test, which also renders offscreen at 1080p. The two-year-old GPU just isn't built to handle high-end gaming and benchmarks at 1080p.

Graphics and Gaming

Futuremark 3DMark Ice Storm

Rather than post a last place finish in all of our gaming benchmarks, the Fire HD 7 showed in 3DMark that it has some gaming prowess, after all. It scored higher than Dell's Venue 8 and a couple of older Samsung Galaxy Tab slates, and stayed within striking distance of several slates that performed better.

So what's the bottom line here? The Fire HD 7 isn't going to win you any bragging rights in gaming performance, nor is it suited for games that push the mobile envelope. However, we fired up a few titles and found that the Fire HD 7 is plenty fast enough for titles like EA's Real Racing, let alone casual titles like Angry Birds and other low-end fare.